Poll: Job approval slips for Raimondo, Reed, Whitehouse

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — After an election-year bump, Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo’s approval rating has slipped in the quarterly Morning Consult rankings, keeping her among the least popular governors in the country.

The website’s survey of 1,871 Rhode Island voters found 40% approved of the job Raimondo was doing over the winter, while 50% disapproved and 10% were undecided. Her numbers were almost identical to what she earned a year ago, but slightly worse than her showing in the middle of last year.

The Rhode Island results were gathered through online national polling of about 473,000 U.S. registered voters conducted by Morning Consult from Jan. 1 to March 31, an unusually long time period for a survey. The margin of error for Rhode Island was plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Raimondo was in a three-way tie for the second-worst approval rating nationwide along with two other Democratic governors — J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Ralph Northam of Virginia. The worst numbers of all belong to Connecticut Democrat Ned Lamont and Kentucky Republican Matt Bevin, both of whom earned a 33% approval rating.

Over the border in Massachusetts, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker continued to be the best-liked chief executive in the nation, earning a 73% approval rating.

Morning Consult also reported lower approval ratings for Rhode Island’s two U.S. senators.

Democrat Jack Reed, who is up for re-election next year, had a 49% approval rating over the winter, down from 54% at the end of last year. Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, who won re-election handily last fall, had a 46% approval rating, down from 50%.

In Massachusetts, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey earned a 51% approval rating, while U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was at 49%. Both Democrats will be on the ballot next year: Markey is seeking re-election to the Senate, while Warren is running for president.